- If you ever wondered whether you could make an early 80's spoof film just as good as anything put out by Mel Brooks or the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker team, then let me assure you that the answer is no. But if you went ahead and did it anyway, then you might be director Alfred Sole and the other makers of Pandemonium, a movie that never heard of a joke so corny or a gag so stupid that it couldn't be included to pad out the film's meager 82-minute runtime. The movie doesn't so much nudge the audience to laugh as it grabs them by the lapels and shakes them until it drags out an involuntary chortle.
- The plot is about cheerleader murders (and that's all well and good), but I'd like to focus on the incredibly eclectic cast. The cheerleader camp participants are a mix of knowns and unknowns played by Candy Azzara, Carol Kane, Judge Reinhold, Debralee Scott, Marc McClure, Teri Landrum, and Miles Chapin. A Canadian mountie force features a Smothers Brother (Tom), Paul Reubens, and a horse named Bob. Bit parts are played by Tab Hunter, Eileen Brennan, Edie McClurg, Eve Arden, Donald O'Connor, Phil Hartman, and Richard Romanus. And the guy who played Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana). And Squiggy from Laverne & Shirley (David Lander). The film stubbornly refuses to admit that any idea could not be good.
- At this point, I should admit that a few things about this film are genuinely funny, like the javelin shish kabob cheerleader murder (a phrase I never thought I'd write), pretty much anything involving Bob the horse, or Godzilla as a steward on a Japanese airline. Other jokes are lazy, like flashing "Exposition" when a character delivers exactly that, the rhyming cheerleader names, and having Asian tourists constantly snap pictures. And then there's the nonsensical stuff like Carol Kane shooting lasers out of her eyes, a milk and cookie bath, and the persistant toothbrushing. I know I made fun of the runtime earlier, but I think 82 minutes is the right cooking time for this turkey.
